ILSI Europe Report Series PACKAGING MATERIALS 8. PRINTING INKS FOR FOOD PACKAGING COMPOSITION AND PROPERTIES OF PRINTING INKS REPORT International Life Sciences Institute Commissioned by the ILSI Europe Packaging Materials Task Force About ILSI / ILSI Europe Founded in 1978, the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) is a nonprofit, worldwide foundation that seeks to improve the well-being of the general public through the advancement of science. Its goal is to further the understanding of scientific issues relating to nutrition, food safety, toxicology, risk assessment, and the environment. ILSI is recognised around the world for the quality of the research it supports, the global conferences and workshops it sponsors, the educational projects it initiates, and the publications it produces. ILSI is affiliated with the World Health Organization (WHO) as a non-governmental organisation and has special consultative status with the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. By bringing together scientists from academia, government, industry, and the public sector, ILSI fosters a balanced approach to solving health and environmental problems of common global concern. Headquartered in Washington, DC, ILSI accomplishes this work through its worldwide network of branches, the ILSI Health and Environmental Sciences Institute (HESI) and its Research Foundation. Branches currently operate within Argentina, Brazil, Europe, India, Japan, Korea, Mexico, North Africa & Gulf Region, North America, North Andean, South Africa, South Andean, Southeast Asia Region, as well as a Focal Point in China. ILSI Europe was established in 1986 to identify and evaluate scientific issues related to the above topics through symposia, workshops, expert groups, and resulting publications. The aim is to advance the understanding and resolution of scientific issues in these areas. ILSI Europe is funded primarily by its industry members. This publication is made possible by support of the ILSI Europe Task Force on Packaging Materials, which is under the umbrella of the Board of Directors of ILSI Europe. ILSI policy mandates that the ILSI and ILSI branch Boards of Directors must be composed of at least 50% public sector scientists; the remaining directors represent ILSI’s member companies. Listed hereunder are the ILSI Europe Board of Directors and the ILSI Europe Task Force on Packaging Materials industry members. ILSI Europe Board of Directors Non-industry members Industry members Prof. A. Boobis, Imperial College of London (UK) Mr. C. Davis, Kraft Foods (CH) Prof. P. Calder, University of Southampton (UK) Mr. R. Fletcher, Kellogg Europe (IE) Prof. G. Eisenbrand, University of Kaiserslautern (DE) Dr. M. Knowles, Coca-Cola Europe (BE) Prof. A. Grynberg, Université Paris Sud – INRA (FR) Dr. G. Kozianowski, Südzucker/BENEO Group (DE) Prof. em. G. Pascal, National Institute for Agricultural Research – Dr. G. Meijer, Unilever (NL) INRA (FR) Prof. J. O’Brien, Nestlé (CH) Prof. G. Rechkemmer, Max Rubner-Institut – Federal Research Prof. C. Shortt, McNeil Nutritionals (UK) Institute of Nutrition and Food (DE) Dr. J. Stowell, Danisco (UK) Dr. J. Schlundt, National Food Institute (DK) Dr. G. Thompson, Danone (FR) Prof. V. Tutelyan, National Nutrition Institute (RU) Dr. P. Weber, DSM (CH) Prof. G. Varela-Moreiras, University San Pablo-CEU of Madrid (ES) ILSI Europe Packaging Materials Task Force industry members Coca-Cola Europe Nestlé Danone SABMiller Dow Europe Swiss Quality Testing Services DuPont de Nemours Tetra Pak Research Kraft Foods Europe Unilever Mars PACKAGING MATERIALS 8. PRINTING INKS FOR FOOD PACKAGING COMPOSITION AND PROPERTIES OF PRINTING INKS By Josef Sutter, Vincent Dudler, Roger Meuwly REPOrt COMMISSIONED BY THE ILSI EUROPE PACKAGING MATERIALS TASK FORCE DECEMBER 2011 © 2011 ILSI Europe This publication may be reproduced for non-commercial use as is, and in its entirety, without further permission from ILSI Europe. Partial reproduction and commercial use are prohibited without ILSI Europe’s prior written permission. “A Global Partnership for a Safer, Healthier World ®”, the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) logo image of concentric circles, the word mark “International Life Sciences Institute”, as well as the acronym “ILSI” are trademarks of the International Life Sciences Institute and licensed for use by ILSI Europe. The use of trade names and commercial sources in this document is for purposes of identification only and does not imply endorsement by ILSI Europe. In addition, the opinions expressed herein and the conclusions of this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of ILSI Europe nor those of its member companies. For more information about ILSI Europe, please contact ILSI Europe a.i.s.b.l. Avenue E. Mounier 83, Box 6 B-1200 Brussels Belgium Phone: (+32) 2 771 00 14 Fax: (+32) 2 762 00 44 E-mail: [email protected] www.ilsi.eu Printed in Belgium D/2011/10.996/22 ISBN 9789078637257 CONTENTS P ACKAGING FOREWORD 4 INTRODUCTION 5 MATERIALS CHARACTERISTICS AND PROPERTIES OF PRINTING INKS 6 COMPOSITION OF PRINTING INKS 7 8. P Offset printing 8 Gravure and flexographic printing 10 UV-curing inks and lacquers 13 RINTING Screen printing 16 Digital printing (non-impact printing) 17 Overprint coatings and lacquers 17 INKS Summary of available ink systems 18 INTERACTION BETWEEN PACKAGING AND CONTENTS 19 FOR INTERNATIONAL REGULATIONS AND GUIDELINES ON PRINTING INKS 21 FOOD Regulations 21 Guidelines 25 P CONCLUSIONS 29 ACKAGING REFERENCES 30 - COM P OSITION AND P RO P ERTIES OF P RINTING INKS Authors: Josef Sutter, hubergroup (DE), Vincent Dudler, Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (CH), Roger Meuwly, Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (CH) Scientific reviewers: Andy Boon, Sun Chemical (UK), Konrad Grob, Official Food Control Authority of Canton of Zurich (CH) Report Series Editor: Kevin Yates (UK) Coordinators: Tanja Wildemann, ILSI Europe (BE), Massimo Ambrosio ILSI Europe (BE) All the figures used in this publication belong to hubergroup (DE) 3 FOREWORD INKS he present report is the eighth in the report series on food packaging RINTING P T materials, which was commissioned by the ILSI Europe Packaging Materials OF Task Force. The report series aims at giving a concise overview on specific packaging materials with regard to their uses as packaging material, their basic chemistry, safety and toxicology, regulation and environmental fate. The reports mainly address an audience in the ERTIES P packaging-producing and packaging-using sectors. RO P Earlier reports have been published on the following topics and can be obtained as a hard copy AND via [email protected] or downloaded from http://www.ilsi.org/Europe/Pages/PM_Series. aspx. OSITION P PET Packaging Materials (2000) Polystyrene for Food Packaging Applications (2002) COM - Polypropylene as a Packaging Material for Foods and Beverages (2002) Polyethylene for Food Packaging Applications (2003) Polyvinyl Chloride for Food Packaging Applications (2003) ACKAGING Paper and Board for Food Packaging Applications (2004) P Metal Packaging for Foodstuffs (2007) Multilayer Packaging for Food and Beverages (2011) FOOD FOR INKS RINTING 8. P MATERIALS ACKAGING P 4 PACKAGING MATERIALS 8. PRINTING INKS FOR FOOD PACKAGING - COMPOSITION AND PROPERTIES OF PRINTING INKS 5 ON I T rinted food packaging is used to provide information rinted food packaging is used to provide to the final consumer foodstuffs. of advertising and presentation the in role an important plays and such as weight, vendor details, Some of this information is legally required, P DUC O R NT I information about composition, presence of allergens and nutritional details, etc. In addition, and nutritional details, etc. In addition, information of allergens about composition, presence purposes. printing is carried out for decorative and protective of the packaging side inner to the applied are inks printing where instances exceptional are There food Direct food contact. have direct intentionally and purposes, promotional for e.g. inserts, on or a special case and comprise less than 1% of food packaging applications. contact inks represent This report in this report. and will not be treated requirements subject to different Such inks are mainly deals with printing inks applied on the non-food contact surface of food packaging (packaging inks) as outlined in the information Printing Ink Association leaflet of the European (EuPIA, 2009b). CHARACTERISTICS AND PROPERTIES OF INKS PRINTING INKS RINTING P The printing inks and coatings must cope with a multitude of different requirements: OF • Ink production: The requirements related to colour and gloss are only met if the pigments used are dispersed as finely as possible. The quality of the dispersion process depends very much on the ERTIES P components used. RO P • Printability: Continuous improvement of the ink formulations is required to satisfy requirements of increasing press speed, use of new substrates, etc. AND • Substrate: Inks need to be customised for their best performance for each substrate they are printed on. • Finishing: Finishing processes include coating, foil embossing, laminating, gluing, etc. and each has OSITION P different requirements. • Packaging: The choice of ink will be influenced by the packaging processes employed, e.g. heat COM - sealing, speed of packaging machines, necessary slip, packing at low temperatures, etc. • Storage of goods: Temperature and humidity have an impact. • Package